Kristen McGlynn
The Paw Print
In another weekend of stellar performances, the ASC Grizzlies turned out a host of impressive finishes at the University of New Mexico Classic and Combined Events. The continued improvement of both the men and women bodes well for the Division II Indoor National meet which will be held March 12 and 13 at the Albuquerque convention center. Adams State will host the prestigious event, and the Grizzlies have been gaining valuable experience over the past couple weekends while competing on the track.
Friday evening started strong for the women, who provisionally qualified two relays and two individuals for the National meet. In the distance medley relay, an event consisting of a 1200 meter, 400 meter, 800 meter, and 1600 meter run, the ASC women qualified two teams. The team of Monroe, Jessica Adams, Vanessa Roy, and Kristen McGlynn finished first in 12 minutes 2 seconds followed in second place by the team of Cassie Mitchell, Addison Lemaster, Janette Cary, and Alicia Nelson in 12:08. In the pole vault, Annelise Pradal cleared 11 feet 7 inches to finish fifteenth and achieve a provisional mark. Also that evening, Amanda Doyle and Renee Harris competed in the first half of the women’s pentathlon. Doyle would finish out the event with a total of 3,524 points to finish eleventh and provisionally qualify for Nationals while Harris finished twenty-first with 3,201 points.
Friday night also proved successful for the men. In the pole vault, Blair Sohl cleared 15 feet 7 inches to finish eleventh. The men’s distance medley relay team of Keegan Calmes, Drew Soucy, Drew Graham, and Anthony Gauthier took first in 10 minutes flat and achieved a provisional qualifying mark.
Saturday brought another impressive finish from Indira Spence this weekend in the 200 meter dash. Spence ran 24.25 seconds to claim second place in addition to setting an automatic qualifying mark. Spence, who is ranked second in the 200 meters on the Division II Indoor Performance List, is now automatically qualified in both the 200 meter and the 60 meter hurdles. In other track events, Lindsey Grasmick took eighth place in the 400 meter dash with a time of 58.11 The women’s 800 meter run was contested by Monroe who finished second in 2:12, Nelson who was fourth in 2:14, and Mitchell who was sixth in 2:17. Both Monroe and Nelson achieved the provisional qualifying mark and are now ranked third and fourth, respectively, on the DII Performance List. Lemaster finished eighth in the one mile run with a time of 5:12 and the 4×400 meter relay team of Grasmick, Adams, Roy, and Monroe took third in 3:56. A second relay team consisting of Jazmine Ralph, Nelson, Cary, and Mitchell took eighth place in 4:04. Top finishers in the field events included Jenna Bohnen who finished twenty-seventh in the weight throw with a toss of 43 ft. 1 in. and Katie Kruger, competing unattached in the shot put, who finished fifteenth with a throw of 41 ft. 7 in.
On the men’s side, Aaron Braun, fresh off a world-class effort in Seattle, continued to dominate as he won the men’s mile in 4 minutes 6 seconds, a Division II automatic qualifying mark and a new record for the Albuquerque convention center. Braun broke his previous record of 4:08 which he had set at the convention center in 2009. This time ranks Braun first on the DII Indoor Peformance List. Not to be disregarded, the efforts of Braun’s teammates were equally impressive. Ryan McNiff finished second in a time of 4:07 which also set an automatic mark and broke the previous convention center record. McNiff is now ranked a close second behind Braun on the DII Performance List. Reuben Mwei finished fifth in 4:10 and Brian Medigovich fifth in 4:10 also. Both men achieved the automatic qualifying standard and are ranked fourth and fifth respectively in that event on the DII List. Dean Huffer finished fourteenth in 4:18 to earn a provisional mark and Florian Theophile was fifteenth. These five men join fellow Grizzlies Calmes and Gauthier on the list of national qualifiers for the men’s one mile run.
In other events of the day, the Grizzlies saw several top-ten finishes. In the 60 meter hurdles,
Pierce Fair finished seventh in 8.48 seconds followed by teammate Michael Geiger in eighth with a time of 8.79. Justin Cropper was the top Grizzly finisher in the 200 meter dash, taking twentieth place in 22.71 seconds. Joseph Jallow placed twenty-second in the 400 meter dash with a time of 51.43. Gauthier and Calmes returned from their Friday night relay to finish ninth and tenth, respectively, in the 800 meter run both finishing in 1:53. Both men earned the provisional mark for the event and are currently ranked sixth and seventh on the DII Indoor Performance List. Antonio Lopez ran 9 minutes to finish twentieth in the 3000 meter run. In the long jump, Sean Partridge took eleventh with a jump of 21 ft. 11 in. and Daniel Maldonado took eighth place in the weight throw with a toss 54 ft. 4 in.
The Grizzlies will return to action February 12 and 13 at the Washington Husky Classic in Seattle.
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